DOCSLIB.ORG

Al Khadr Town Profile

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Al Khadr Town Profile Silwan & Ath Thuri Town Profile Prepared by The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem Funded by Spanish Cooperation 2012 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Acknowledgments ARIJ hereby expresses its deep gratitude to the Spanish agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) for their funding of this project. ARIJ is grateful to the Palestinian officials in the ministries, municipalities, joint services councils, village committees and councils, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) for their assistance and cooperation with the project team members during the data collection process. ARIJ also thanks all the staff who worked throughout the past couple of years towards the accomplishment of this work. 1 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Background This report is part of a series of booklets, which contain compiled information about each city, village, and town in the Jerusalem Governorate. These booklets came as a result of a comprehensive study of all villages in Jerusalem Governorate, which aims at depicting the overall living conditions in the governorate and presenting developmental plans to assist in developing the livelihood of the population in the area. It was accomplished through the "Village Profiles and Needs Assessment;" the project funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID). The "Village Profiles and Needs Assessment" was designed to study, investigate, analyze and document the socio-economic conditions and the needed programs and activities to mitigate the impact of the current unsecure political, economic and social conditions in the Jerusalem Governorate. The project's objectives are to survey, analyze, and document the available natural, human, socioeconomic and environmental resources, and the existing limitations and needs assessment for the development of the rural and marginalized areas in the Jerusalem Governorate. In addition, the project aims at preparing strategic developmental programs and activities to mitigate the impact of the current political, social, and economic instability with the focus on the agricultural sector. All village profiles in Arabic and English are available online at http://vprofile.arij.org. 2 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Table of Contents Location and Physical Characteristics .....................................................................................................4 History .........................................................................................................................................................5 Religious and Archaeological Sites ...........................................................................................................6 Population ...................................................................................................................................................7 Education ....................................................................................................................................................8 Health Status ..............................................................................................................................................9 Economic Activities ....................................................................................................................................9 Agricultural Sector ..................................................................................................................................10 Institutions and Services..........................................................................................................................13 Infrastructure and Natural Resources ...................................................................................................13 Geopolitical Status of Silwan & Ath Thuri Town .................................................................................14 Development Plans and Projects ............................................................................................................26 Town Development Priorities and Needs ...............................................................................................27 References .................................................................................................................................................28 3 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Silwan & Ath Thuri Town Profile Location and physical characteristics Silwan & Ath Thuri are Palestinian towns in Jerusalem Governorate located, where Silwan is located 0.9km from Jerusalem City and Ath Thuri 1.55km from Jerusalem City. It is bordered by Jerusalem city and Jabal al Mukabbir to the east, Jerusalem city to the north, Western Jerusalem to the west, and Sur Bahir to the south (ARIJ-GIS Unit, 2012) (See map 1). Map 1: Silwan & Ath Thuri location and borders Source: ARIJ - GIS Unit, 2012 Silwan is located at an altitude of 648m above sea level with a mean annual rainfall of 404.8mm. The average annual temperature is 17oC and the average annual humidity is approximately 60% (ARIJ-GIS Unit, 2012). 4 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Ath Thuri is located at an altitude of 659m above sea level with a mean annual rainfall of 414.5mm. The average annual temperature is 17oC and the average annual humidity is approximately 60% (ARIJ-GIS Unit, 2012). Since 2008, Silwan & Ath Thuri have been governed by Hai Wadi Hilweh Committee, which is currently administrated by 6 members and owns a permanent headquarters. A further committee (Hai al Bustan Committee) owns a headquarters in Al Bustan neighborhood; this committee is a sit-in tent. There are also a number of local committees in Wadi ar Rababah and Ath Thuri; these committees are responsible for protecting residents from Israeli settlers and fulfilling their other needs (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012). It is the responsibility of Wadi Hilweh Committee to provide a number of services to the residents of Silwan & Ath Thuri, including: Protecting residents from settlers. Providing information to visitors about Silwan & Ath Thuri. Implementing projects and case studies for the town. Protecting historical and archeological sites. Providing workshops for youth development. (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012) History Silwan is a word derived from the Aramaic word ‘Sillon’ (thistles; blackberries). The town’s territory contains remains of the Old City of Jerusalem, some dating from the bronze period. Other archaeological sites include 7th century temples inhabited by hermits and monks, and the Silwan springs (Ruwaq, 2012). The town was established over 5500 years ago, and the original residents were from Crete and the Arabian Peninsula. The current population are from Jerusalem city and neighboring villages, and some families are originally from Hebron city (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012) (see photo below of Silwan & Ath Thuri towns). 5 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Photo 1: Silwan & Ath Thuri towns Religious and archaeological sites There are 3 mosques in the towns, ('Ein Silwan, Bir 'Ayyub and 'Ein al Louza mosques), in addition to several churches and convents, including Siyah ad Dik, Al Mishnaqa and Sayiduna Ibrahim convents, and the Greek church. In terms of archaeological sites, there are the remains of Daood archeological city, Hilweh spring and Silwan spring in addition to some archaeological sites in the Jurat al 'Ennab area (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012) (see map 2). 6 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Map 2: Main locations in Silwan & Ath Thuri towns Source: ARIJ - GIS Unit, 2012 Population Unfortunately, no census has been conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) to ascertain population numbers and housing statistics in Silwan & Ath Thuri town. However, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that the population of Silwan and Ath Thuri was approximately 31,683 in 2011 (The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 2012). Families Silwan & Ath Thuri residents are from several families, namely the Siyam, Qarra'in, 'Abbasi, Abu Thiyab, Al Ghuzlan, Ghaith, As Saraheen, 'Eweidat, Al Mahariq and Al Mahrabashiyah families (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012). 7 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Education There are two schools in the towns: one governmental school in Ath Thuri run by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), and one school run by UNRWA in Silwan. There are no local kindergartens run by the Ministry of Education (Directorate of Education in Jerusalem, 2011). There are also 7 schools in the town run by the Jerusalem Municipality (see table 1). The illiteracy rate amongst the Silwan & Ath Thuri population in 2012 was approximately 10% (Wadi Hilweh Information Center, 2012). Table 1: Schools in Silwan & Ath Thuri by name, stage, sex and supervising authority School name Supervising authority Sex Ath Thuri/Al'Aytam Elementary School Government Male Al Quds Girls’ Elementary School UNRWA Female Silwan Co-educational Primary New School Jerusalem Municipality Mixed Silwan Girls’ Primary School Jerusalem Municipality Female Silwan Girls’ Preparatory School Jerusalem Municipality Female Silwan Boys’ Primary School Jerusalem Municipality Male Silwan Co-educational Primary School Jerusalem Municipality Mixed Ahmad Samih Boys’ Preparatory School Jerusalem Municipality Male Ahmad Samih Boys’ Primary School Jerusalem
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rapport Des Chefs De Mission Diplomatiques De L'union
    Rapport des Chefs de Mission Diplomatiques de l’Union Européenne sur Jérusalem 2017 Note de synthèse Les Chefs de Mission à Jérusalem et à Ramallah soumettent par le présent document au Comité Politique et de Sécurité le rapport sur Jérusalem pour 2017 (annexe 1) et une série de recommandations pour discussion pour renforcer la politique de l’Union Européenne sur Jérusalem Est (Annexe 2). L’annexe 3 contient des faits supplémentaires et des chiffres sur Jérusalem. Les développements intervenus en 2017 ont encore accéléré les difficultés de la solution « des deux Etats » en l’absence de processus de paix significatif. Les tendances précédentes, observées et décrites par les Chefs de Mission Diplomatiques depuis plusieurs années, se sont empirées. La mise à l’écart des Palestiniens de la vie ordinaire, politique, économique et sociale de la ville sont largement inchangées. Le développement d’un nombre record de plans de colonisation s’est poursuivi, y compris dans des zones identifiées par l’Union Européenne et ses Etats membres comme clés pour une solution « des deux Etats ». En même temps, les démolitions de logements palestiniens se sont poursuivies, et plusieurs familles palestiniennes ont été expulsées de leurs logements au bénéfice de colons. Les tensions autour du Dôme du Rocher / Mont du Temple continuent. Au cours de cette année, plusieurs projets de lois à la Knesset ont poursuivi leur avancée législative, qui, s’ils étaient adoptés, apporteraient des changements unilatéraux au statut et aux frontières de Jérusalem, en violation du droit international. En fin d’année, les Etats Unis ont annoncé leur reconnaissance de Jérusalem comme capitale d’Israël.
    [Show full text]
  • Nnn Guiding Settler Jerusalem Voice and the Transpositions of History in Religious Zionist Pilgrimage
    nnn Guiding Settler Jerusalem Voice and the Transpositions of History in Religious Zionist Pilgrimage Alejandro I. Paz n ABSTRACT: This article examines how Elad, a religious Zionist settler group, attempts to reanimate biblical tales by transposing biblical text as part of tours for Jewish visitors to the City of David archaeological site in East Jerusalem. Since the early 1990s, Elad has created controversy by settling in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, provoking criticism from Israeli archaeologists and peace activists. In an effort to avoid ‘politics’ during tours, the group emphasizes a now globalized historicist reading of the Bible, an interpretation popularized by archaeology over the last century and a half. The article considers how transposition from this historicist reading into the here and now is a rhetorical device used to create a biblical realism that does not yet exist in the contested landscape. However, rather than producing an erasure of the Palestinian presence, and in contradiction to the professed desire to refrain from politics, I show that the very communicative situation and multiple framings for producing this biblical realism inevitably remind visitors of the contemporary context. n KEYWORDS: Bible, Elad, pilgrimage, politics, realism, settlers, Jerusalem In December 1998, a Religious Zionist rabbi, Yehuda Maly, gave a tour to a group of guides associated with an East Jerusalem non-profit settler organization, Elad (an abbreviation forel ir david, ‘toward the City of David’).1 Elad is active in a Palestinian neighborhood called Silwan, which it wants to populate with Jewish residents. Rabbi Maly is not only an instructor but also a senior member of Elad as well as a resident in one of the settlement houses.
    [Show full text]
  • The Next Jerusalem
    The Next Introduction1 Jerusalem: Since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian Potential Futures conflict, the city of Jerusalem has been the subject of a number of transformations that of the Urban Fabric have radically changed its urban structure. Francesco Chiodelli Both the Israelis and the Palestinians have implemented different spatial measures in pursuit of their disparate political aims. However, it is the Israeli authorities who have played the key role in the process of the “political transformation” of the Holy City’s urban fabric, with the occupied territories of East Jerusalem, in particular, being the object of Israeli spatial action. Their aim has been the prevention of any possible attempt to re-divide the city.2 In fact, the military conquest in 1967 was not by itself sufficient to assure Israel that it had full and permanent The wall at Abu Dis. Source: Photo by Federica control of the “unified” city – actually, the Cozzio (2012) international community never recognized [ 50 ] The Next Jerusalem: Potential Futures of the Urban Fabric the 1967 Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territories, and the Palestinians never ceased claiming East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. So, since June 1967, after the overtly military phase of the conflict, Israeli authorities have implemented an “urban consolidation phase,” with the aim of making the military conquests irreversible precisely by modifying the urban space. Over the years, while there have been no substantial advances in terms of diplomatic agreements between the Israelis and the Palestinians about the status of Jerusalem, the spatial configuration of the city has changed constantly and quite unilaterally.
    [Show full text]
  • The-Legal-Status-Of-East-Jerusalem.Pdf
    December 2013 Written by: Adv. Yotam Ben-Hillel Cover photo: Bab al-Asbat (The Lion’s Gate) and the Old City of Jerusalem. (Photo by: JC Tordai, 2010) This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position or the official opinion of the European Union. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent, international humanitarian non- governmental organisation that provides assistance, protection and durable solutions to refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. The author wishes to thank Adv. Emily Schaeffer for her insightful comments during the preparation of this study. 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5 2. Background ............................................................................................................................ 6 3. Israeli Legislation Following the 1967 Occupation ............................................................ 8 3.1 Applying the Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration to East Jerusalem .................... 8 3.2 The Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel ................................................................... 10 4. The Status
    [Show full text]
  • Moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem: Challenges and Opportunities
    MOVING THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN ISRAEL TO JERUSALEM: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 8, 2017 Serial No. 115–44 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://oversight.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 28–071 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland, Ranking Darrell E. Issa, California Minority Member Jim Jordan, Ohio Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Mark Sanford, South Carolina Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Justin Amash, Michigan Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Jim Cooper, Tennessee Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Blake Farenthold, Texas Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Thomas Massie, Kentucky Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Mark Meadows, North Carolina Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands Ron DeSantis, Florida Val Butler Demings, Florida Dennis A. Ross, Florida Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Mark Walker, North Carolina Jamie Raskin, Maryland Rod Blum, Iowa Peter Welch, Vermont Jody B.
    [Show full text]
  • Marah Al-Bakri (Website of 48Arab)
    November 2, 2015 Initial Findings of the Profile of Palestinian Terrorists Who Carried Out Attacks in Israel in the Current Wave of Terrorism (Updated to October 25, 2015) The contagious effect of stabbing attacks: a notice posted to the Palestinian social networks, some of them affiliated with Hamas, reading "If you don't stand up for Jerusalem, who will?" It features recent postings written by terrorist operatives Muhannad Shafiq and Fadi Aloun, who were killed carrying out stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and became role models for terrorists who followed in their footsteps. Overview 1. The wave of Palestinian violence and terrorism currently plaguing Israel began during the most recent Jewish High Holidays. In retrospect, the ITIC has concluded it began with the stones thrown at the vehicle of Alexander Levlowitz near the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem on September 14, 2015. Initially the wave of violence and terrorism focused on the Temple Mount and east Jerusalem and later spread throughout Jerusalem and to other sites inside Israel and various hotspots in Judea and Samaria (especially the region around Hebron). So far 12 1 Israelis and more than 70 Palestinians have been killed. 1 According to a spokesman of the Palestinian ministry of health so far 61 Palestinians have been killed (Voice of Palestine Radio, October 26, 2015). According to the written Palestinian media 71 Palestinians 179-15 2 2. The current wave of violence and terrorism is part of the overall "popular resistance" strategy adopted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah at the Sixth Fatah Conference in August 2009.2 It is manifested by rising and falling levels of popular terrorism.
    [Show full text]
  • Legal and Administrative Matters Law from 1970
    Systematic dispossession of Palestinian neighborhoods in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan For many years, there has been an organized governmental effort to take properties in East Jerusalem from Palestinians and transfer them to settlers. In the past it was mainly through the Absentee Properties Law, but today the efforts are done mainly by the use of the Legal and Administrative Matters Law from 1970. Till recently this effort was disastrous for individual families who lost their homes, but now the aim is entire neighborhoods (in Batan al-Hawa and Sheikh Jarrah). Since the horrifying expulsion of the Mughrabi neighborhood from the Old City in 1967 there was no such move in Jerusalem. In recent years there has been an increase in the threat of expulsion hovering over the communities of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan in East Jerusalem. A wave of eviction lawsuits is being conducted before the courts, with well-organized and well-funded settler groups equipped with direct or indirect assistance from government agencies and the Israeli General Custodian. • Sheikh Jarrah - Umm Haroun (west of Nablus Road) - approximately 45 Palestinian families under threat of evacuation; At least nine of them are in the process of eviction in the courts and at least five others received warning letters in preparation for an evacuation claim. Two families have already been evacuated and replaced by settlers. See map • Sheikh Jarrah - Kerem Alja'oni (east of Nablus Road) – c. 30 Palestinian families under threat of evacuation, at least 11 of which are in the process of eviction in the courts, and 9 families have been evicted and replaced by settlers.
    [Show full text]
  • Sur Bahir & Umm Tuba Town Profile
    Sur Bahir & Umm Tuba Town Profile Prepared by The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem Funded by Spanish Cooperation 2012 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Acknowledgments ARIJ hereby expresses its deep gratitude to the Spanish agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) for their funding of this project. ARIJ is grateful to the Palestinian officials in the ministries, municipalities, joint services councils, village committees and councils, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) for their assistance and cooperation with the project team members during the data collection process. ARIJ also thanks all the staff who worked throughout the past couple of years towards the accomplishment of this work. 1 Palestinian Localities Study Jerusalem Governorate Background This report is part of a series of booklets, which contain compiled information about each city, village, and town in the Jerusalem Governorate. These booklets came as a result of a comprehensive study of all villages in Jerusalem Governorate, which aims at depicting the overall living conditions in the governorate and presenting developmental plans to assist in developing the livelihood of the population in the area. It was accomplished through the "Village Profiles and Needs Assessment;" the project funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID). The "Village Profiles and Needs Assessment" was designed to study, investigate, analyze and document the socio-economic conditions and the needed programs and activities to mitigate the impact of the current unsecure political, economic and social conditions in the Jerusalem Governorate. The project's objectives are to survey, analyze, and document the available natural, human, socioeconomic and environmental resources, and the existing limitations and needs assessment for the development of the rural and marginalized areas in the Jerusalem Governorate.
    [Show full text]
  • Access to Jerusalem – New Military Order Limits West Bank Palestinian Access
    February 2006 Special Focus Humanitarian Reports Humanitarian Assistance in the oPt Humanitarian Events Monitoring Issues Special Focus: Access to Jerusalem – New Military Order Limits West Bank Palestinian Access As the Barrier nears completion around Jerusalem, recent Israeli The eight other crossings are less time-consuming - drivers and their military orders further restrict West Bank Palestinian pedestrian and passengers generally drive through a checkpoint encountering only vehicle access into Jerusalem.1 These orders integrate the Barrier random ID checks. crossing regime into the closure system and limit West Bank Palestinian traffic into Jerusalem to four Barrier crossings (see map Reduced access to religious sites: below): Qalandiya from the north, Gilo from the south2, Shu’fat camp The ability of the Muslim and Christian communities in the West from the east and Ras Abu Sbeitan (Olive) for pedestrian residents Bank to freely access holy sites in Jerusalem is an additional of Abu Dis, and Al ‘Eizariya.3 concern. With these orders, for example, all three major routes between Jerusalem and Bethlehem (Tunnel road, original Road 60 Currently, there are 12 routes and crossings to enter Jerusalem from (Gilo) and Ein Yalow) will be blocked for Palestinian use. the West Bank including the four in the Barrier (see detailed map Christian and Muslim residents of Bethlehem and the surrounding attached). The eight other routes and crossing points into Jerusalem, villages will in the future access Jerusalem through one barrier now closed to West Bank Palestinians, will remain open to residents crossing and only if a permit has been obtained from the Israeli Civil of Israel including those living in settlements, persons of Jewish Administration.
    [Show full text]
  • November 2014 Al-Malih Shaqed Kh
    Salem Zabubah Ram-Onn Rummanah The West Bank Ta'nak Ga-Taybah Um al-Fahm Jalameh / Mqeibleh G Silat 'Arabunah Settlements and the Separation Barrier al-Harithiya al-Jalameh 'Anin a-Sa'aidah Bet She'an 'Arrana G 66 Deir Ghazala Faqqu'a Kh. Suruj 6 kh. Abu 'Anqar G Um a-Rihan al-Yamun ! Dahiyat Sabah Hinnanit al-Kheir Kh. 'Abdallah Dhaher Shahak I.Z Kfar Dan Mashru' Beit Qad Barghasha al-Yunis G November 2014 al-Malih Shaqed Kh. a-Sheikh al-'Araqah Barta'ah Sa'eed Tura / Dhaher al-Jamilat Um Qabub Turah al-Malih Beit Qad a-Sharqiyah Rehan al-Gharbiyah al-Hashimiyah Turah Arab al-Hamdun Kh. al-Muntar a-Sharqiyah Jenin a-Sharqiyah Nazlat a-Tarem Jalbun Kh. al-Muntar Kh. Mas'ud a-Sheikh Jenin R.C. A'ba al-Gharbiyah Um Dar Zeid Kafr Qud 'Wadi a-Dabi Deir Abu Da'if al-Khuljan Birqin Lebanon Dhaher G G Zabdah לבנון al-'Abed Zabdah/ QeiqisU Ya'bad G Akkabah Barta'ah/ Arab a-Suweitat The Rihan Kufeirit רמת Golan n 60 הגולן Heights Hadera Qaffin Kh. Sab'ein Um a-Tut n Imreihah Ya'bad/ a-Shuhada a a G e Mevo Dotan (Ganzour) n Maoz Zvi ! Jalqamus a Baka al-Gharbiyah r Hermesh Bir al-Basha al-Mutilla r e Mevo Dotan al-Mughayir e t GNazlat 'Isa Tannin i a-Nazlah G d Baqah al-Hafira e The a-Sharqiya Baka al-Gharbiyah/ a-Sharqiyah M n a-Nazlah Araba Nazlat ‘Isa Nazlat Qabatiya הגדה Westהמערבית e al-Wusta Kh.
    [Show full text]
  • The Palestinian Economy in East Jerusalem, Some Pertinent Aspects of Social Conditions Are Reviewed Below
    UNITED N A TIONS CONFERENC E ON T RADE A ND D EVELOPMENT Enduring annexation, isolation and disintegration UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT Enduring annexation, isolation and disintegration New York and Geneva, 2013 Notes The designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ______________________________________________________________________________ Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. ______________________________________________________________________________ Material in this publication may be freely quoted or reprinted, but acknowledgement is requested, together with a copy of the publication containing the quotation or reprint to be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat: Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. ______________________________________________________________________________ The preparation of this report by the UNCTAD secretariat was led by Mr. Raja Khalidi (Division on Globalization and Development Strategies), with research contributions by the Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit and consultant Mr. Ibrahim Shikaki (Al-Quds University, Jerusalem), and statistical advice by Mr. Mustafa Khawaja (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah). ______________________________________________________________________________ Cover photo: Copyright 2007, Gugganij. Creative Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org (accessed 11 March 2013). (Photo taken from the roof terrace of the Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family on Al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem, looking towards the south. In the foreground is the silver dome of the Armenian Catholic church “Our Lady of the Spasm”.
    [Show full text]
  • Jerusalem: City of Dreams, City of Sorrows
    1 JERUSALEM: CITY OF DREAMS, CITY OF SORROWS More than ever before, urban historians tell us that global cities tend to look very much alike. For U.S. students. the“ look alike” perspective makes it more difficult to empathize with and to understand cultures and societies other than their own. The admittedly superficial similarities of global cities with U.S. ones leads to misunderstandings and confusion. The multiplicity of cybercafés, high-rise buildings, bars and discothèques, international hotels, restaurants, and boutique retailers in shopping malls and multiplex cinemas gives these global cities the appearances of familiarity. The ubiquity of schools, university campuses, signs, streetlights, and urban transportation systems can only add to an outsider’s “cultural and social blindness.” Prevailing U.S. learning goals that underscore American values of individualism, self-confidence, and material comfort are, more often than not, obstacles for any quick study or understanding of world cultures and societies by visiting U.S. student and faculty.1 Therefore, international educators need to look for and find ways in which their students are able to look beyond the veneer of the modern global city through careful program planning and learning strategies that seek to affect the students in their “reading and learning” about these fertile centers of liberal learning. As the students become acquainted with the streets, neighborhoods, and urban centers of their global city, their understanding of its ways and habits is embellished and enriched by the walls, neighborhoods, institutions, and archaeological sites that might otherwise cause them their “cultural and social blindness.” Jerusalem is more than an intriguing global historical city.
    [Show full text]